Eve Black and Asclepius's Gift
by Ebony Nightinggale
Summary: An ending. A pact. A staircase. A fire. Sirius Black left behind more than just his motorcycle and godson. He left his own daughter. Nine years later finds a bitter untrusting Eve Black on the train to Hogwarts. Harry's absence hardly makes the school safer, or the Defense teacher any saner. Sometimes blood does tell, but Eve has something to prove and more blood than just Dad's.
1. A Black Eve

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs and the alterations I make to J.K. Rowling's plot.**

**Warning: A very OC central mostly cannon AU. You have been warned. Manipulative, though not exactly evil, Dumbledore in latter parts of the story.**

**This story takes place the year BEFORE Philosopher's Stone.**

**Someone please tell me if my OCs are at all believable or just more of the crap that floods this genre.**

**Reedited 4/10/13**

**Eve Black and Asclepius's Gift**

**Prologue: A Black Eve**

The house wasn't just in ruins; half of it was gone, leaving nothing but a pile of scattered debris. Bits of the second floor were still falling into the first and sections of the debris field smoldered. Twin plumes of dark smoke rose into the evening sky, twisting like dancing serpents. Sirius Black stopped his motorcycle and gaped up at the house in horror. For a moment, all he could do was stare in shock at the conformation of his worst fears. A part of him still wanted to deny the possibility, to believe that what he saw before him was some kind of trick or illusion, a sick prank James was pulling, because _Peter would never—_

A thunderous crack reverberated through the area and a large section of the house's second story collapsed. Sirius was off his bike with his wand out before the dust had even begun to settle. A brief moment of rational thought stopped him from charging headlong into the rubble but all his mind could truly process was that that was _James and Lily's_ house and that his _godson_ was in that house. His _daughter _was in that house.

A hulking figure loomed out of the dust cloud. Sirius instinctively drew and raised his wand with a spell on his lips before his brain caught and realized that there was only one person that size. "Hagrid!" A heavy cough answered followed by a much smaller series of coughs.

"That you, Sirius?" The half-giant called as he emerged from the house covered in a layer of dust. Cradled in one of his massive arms and held protectively to his chest was a cloth wrapped bundle. Perched upon his other arm was a two-year-old girl, her dark hair coated in dust and the thin arms that clutched Hagrid's beard were covered in long scratches and another gash crossed her cheek.

"Daddy!" The girl cried when she spotted Sirius, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. She leapt from Hagrid's arms and ran to Sirius, shrugging off Hagrid's attempt to hold her back. Sirius dropped to his knees and embraced her.

Sirius looked up at Hagrid, one arm wrapped tightly around his daughter, the other hand held his wand in a white knuckled grip, still alert for danger. "Where's Harry?" He asked, eyeing the bundle that Hagrid now cradled in both hands and prayed that it was his godson.

"He's right here." Hagrid shifted awkwardly and looked away. That answered Sirius's next question before he could ask it.

"No… it can't…"

"Daddy!" Sirius turned his attention back to his daughter. She gripped the front of his robes and buried her face in them.

Sirius tightened his grip on both his daughter and his wand. "Shh, Evie. It's okay."

Evie shook her head. "Is not! The scary man hurt Aunt Lily! An' he tried to hurt baby Harry! An' e'rything 'sploded!"

Sirius's didn't think his expression could get any grimmer but it did. "I'll take them, Hagrid," Sirius said. His voice shook a bit as he looked back up at the man who held his godson. "I'll make sure they're safe."

He tried to protest when the half-giant shook his head but Hagrid cut him off before he could. "Professor Dumbledore told me to bring Harry straight to him." Sirius was about to protest again but then a field mouse scampered across the ground between them. His eyes remained fixated on the place where it disappeared from view, his mind racing with thoughts of another worm-tailed coward.

Peter, _the traitor_, was still out there. Not only that, Sirius realized as ice seeped into his bones, his own brilliant plan had collapsed around him. James and Lily were dead. _Dead_! And nobody else knew who their true Secret-Keeper was. Sirius knew he was the obvious choice. That's why he had suggested Peter. Everybody, on _both_ sides, would assume that it was him, Sirius, and he would draw the attention of the Death Eaters. But now, everyone would assume that _he_ was the one who had betrayed the Potters. Unless he could catch the rat and convince the world of the truth, Sirius held Evie tightly, he was going to Azkaban.

Sirius took a shaky breath. He had to catch Peter. If he couldn't, then he was going to drag that damn rat to hell with him. He owed it to James and Lily. To Harry. To Evie.

"Hagrid, will you keep Evie safe for me? There's something that I have to do."

"a' course, Siri—"

"But Daddy!" Evie cried, her voice muffled by Sirius's robes.

"Shhh." Sirius whispered softly. He used the end of his sleeve to wipe tears and blood from Evie's face. "I need you to be a good girl for Hagrid, okay? Daddy has something he needs to take care of. I'll be back soon."

Evie lifted her face from her father's robes. "You promise?" Her smoky blue eyes shone with tears and a drop of blood dripped from the scratch across her cheek.

Sirius wiped the blood away, a stray tear of his own finally sliding down his cheek. "I promise."

Somehow, as he walked away leaving Hagrid with his motorbike and the remnants of his shattered family, Sirius Black knew he had lied.

(*)

She would only remember two things about that night. A man, who she dreamt of shrouded in bloody mist, killed her Aunt with a flash of green light and her father, pale and shaking, a lone tear falling, as he lied to her.

**I intended for this chapter to be longer but then decided that I couldn't add the other stuff I wanted to without it turning into the narrator just spitting facts in the reader's face, which I hate, so the shortness is the result. I intended for the rest of the chapters to be a good deal longer than this but they may take me awhile to write.**

**Thanks for reading,**

**Ebony**


	2. That Black Girl

**Edit: To anyone who read the original version, there is a fairly major change in the scene in Flourish and Blotts.**

**Edit 4/10/13: minor phrase changes that, while not particularly important, will be mentioned later. The ending has also been altered slightly.**

**Chapter One: That Black Girl**

Evangelique Altair Black gazed out of the highest window at number 12 Grimmauld Place. Kreature fidgeted nervously behind her. No one was supposed to know where she was, let alone send her mail. So, when the letter had come, she had shrieked and demanded a full check of all the house elf's wards. When none were found lacking, she had torn apart the library searching for answers. Unfortunately, since neither she, nor Kreature were entirely sure how the accidental wards she had thrown up when she had first arrived worked, none were forthcoming. Now, Eve stood at the window, watching the world pass below and humming a half remembered lullaby while the letter spun, unopened, between her fingers. Eve frowned, wondering where the song had come from. The frown deepened into a scowl as she eyed the letter in her hands.

_**Miss E. Black**_

_**First Bedroom on the Right**_

_**12 Grimmauld Place**_

_**London**_

She turned the envelope over and found the unmistakable Hogwarts crest pressed into the sealing wax. Deciding that glaring at the envelope wasn't going to make it go away, Eve broke the seal and opened the letter.

_Dear Miss Black,_

_ I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of—_

Eve tossed the letter over her shoulder. Kreature studied the list of supplies and made note of which items would require his young mistress's presence to acquire.

"Kreature," Eve called without taking her eyes off the window. "I need you to take me to Diagon Alley later this afternoon to pick up my wand, books, and robes. In the mean time, could you please begin to gather the other items on the list for me, as well as writing supplies?"

"Of course, Mistress Eve. Would Mistress Eve like Kreature to fix her some lunch before he goes?"

"No thank you, Kreature. I'd like to make something myself." Eve heard Kreature grumbling under his breath before he apparated out of the house, and grinned. She schooled her features back into a scowl and headed down the stairs.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Eve snapped at the portrait at the top of the stairs before continuing down them. The young man in the portrait ran past her and stopped in frame at the bottom of the stairs with his hands on his hips. Her teenaged Uncle Regulus looked absolutely bizarre standing in front of a dreary seascape.

"Well, was I right?" Regulus drawled. Eve snarled at him and stomped into the kitchen. Regulus swept into an out of place cheerful flowery painting as she started making a sandwich. "I am right, aren't I? That's why you're fuming at me and why you were hiding in that cursed paintingless room." Eve idly spun the knife she had been using to slice cheese between her fingers. She glared at Regulus over her shoulder before returning to her sandwich. "So wha—"

Crack!

Eve turned sharply toward the painting and whipped the knife at it. Luckily, if you were Regulus, or unluckily, if you were Eve, Eve was in no way a professional circus knife thrower and the knife hit the painting's frame handle-first. "The hell!" Regulus leapt out of the painting and glared around the frame. Eve picked up her sandwich and left the room, humming a jaunty tune and ignoring her uncle, who ran ahead of her shouting.

Eve sat down at her desk in the study, which had been pushed up against a large bay window, and took a bite of her sandwich before adding to the list of things she needed from Muggle London. The list had been set aside when she had received the letter and then buried beneath the piles of frantic research. The Hogwarts news meant there was more she needed, so, she began to plan. She would need books to entertain herself with, as well as drawing supplies. Fiction and art were both lacking in the wizard world. She would need some long pants with room to grow into. Regulus said that the castle was drafty, despite the fact that charms existed to retain heat. The Slytherin common room and dorms used them, why couldn't the rest of the castle? Eve just added that fact to the list of things she hated about wizards.

It would be less of a hassle to head out into the Muggle world with Kreature absent, so Eve decided to do her shopping right away. She finished her list, and her sandwich, and tucked it into her pocket. The list, not the sandwich. Eve continued to ignore her badgering uncle as she collected her bag, Regulus's old school bag, it had a limited expanding charm, bus schedule, and a wallet of Muggle money.

As she headed out, Regulus's voice followed her out the door. "But was I right?"

(*)

Eve fit in well in Muggle London. She had taken a liking early on to the simplicity and ease of movement offered by Muggle clothes, much to the dismay of her grandmother's portrait, and occasionally Uncle Reg's as well. She wore a simple olive green short-sleeved shirt and a pair of black jeans. The only evidence of Eve's ties to the wizard world was the Slytherin emblem embroidered on her bag. She still got a few odd looks, an eleven-year-old walking alone would do that, but it was nothing like she knew she was going to get when she went to Diagon Alley.

Eve's first stop was an art supply store. She left with two standard sketchpads, a new set of drawing pencils, a sharpener, and three fountain pens. It was impossible to find good art supplies in Diagon Alley. That was one of the things that pissed her off about the wizard community. Beyond enchanted portraits, there was no appreciation for the arts what of ever.

Next, Eve went to a book store run by a young muggleborn Ravenclaw who had left the wizard world with her squib husband. Eve preferred the small family run shop to the larger chain stores. It was nice to be greeted by name when you walked into a store, that and knowing that there was someone of magical decent who saw past her last name.

"Afternoon, Eve." The squib, Gene called from the counter. Rebecca also called a greeting from where she was unpacking a box.

"Good afternoon. How's business?" Eve replied as she browsed the table of popular titles near the door.

"Not too shabby." Rebecca replied. She pulled a book out of the box and held it out to Eve. "And look what came in today." Eve squealed and snatched the book out of her hands. Rebecca laughed. "You're the only eleven year old I know that would squeal in delight at the thought of reading an eight hundred odd page book." Eve ignored her in favor of studying the table of contents. "Just don't go predicting the ending to the entire shop again. It is the last book in the series so it'll _really_ tick people off."

"Oh, I won't. I'm just almost certain that my favorite character is going to die is all."

"Eve…"

"Shutting up." Eve tucked the book under her arm. "Did the order I left last time come in?" The small shop had a small selection but they could, and would, special order any book for you, for a small fee.

"Yup. Let me finish shelving these and I'll go grab it from the back."

Eve nodded and left to browse the fantasy section. "Have you heard of anything good?" She asked Gene after Rebecca went to the back.

"If you're looking for a series to bring to Hogwarts with you, I'd recommend these." He pulled the book off the shelf and handed it to Eve. "We've only got the first one here but if you like it we could order the next few for you to take to school with you. Though they're not bricks," Gene gestured to the fat book still tucked under Eve's arm, "they are very good."

Eve left the shop with seven books tucked into her bag and a promise to return for a visit before school. Her last stop was a clothing store where she purchased jeans that were a bit too long in case she decided to grow while she was at Hogwarts.

Eve returned home to a pissed off house elf and a smug uncle. "Mistress Eve went out alone again," overlapped with "Ha! I was right!" Eve gave them both a long look before ignoring them both and heading up to her room to check on the new purchases that Kreature had placed there.

Kreature hovered in the doorway for a moment. "Would Mistress Eve like to retrieve the rest of her school supplies right away?"

"No thank you, Kreature," Eve replied, brushing her fingers across a new raven's feather quill. "I think I'll take some tea first."

"Of course, Mistress Eve." Kreature left to prepare tea and Regulus walked into the empty frame that was actually his own.

"So," he began, "I'm going to assume that you have some magnificent plan that will allow you to go to Hogwarts without anyone pitching a hissy fit about the fact that your father's in Azkaban, you don't have a guardian, and have been raised by a house elf and a couple portraits." The corner of Eve's eye twitched slightly. "I'll take that as a no."

"I'm assuming that no one will care," Eve replied after some thought. "After all, if they haven't yet, why should they start? If it does become a problem, I can have Kreature come get me and continue as I have been. No one cared when I vanished the first time, why should they a second? A discrete private tutor should be easy enough to find."

Regulus nodded at Eve's semi-sound logic. She retrieved her favorite fountain pen from her desk, sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor, and started labeling the first page in her notebooks with the titles of her classes. "Have you decided what to do for a trunk?"

"I figured I'd just use your old one." Eve immediately regretted saying that. It launched another lecture about how Eve was the inheritor of one of the greatest fortunes in the wizard world and was, for some reason, a horribly stingy miser. It only stopped when Kreature appeared with tea, took one look at Eve sitting on the floor, and immediately started bemoaning his failure to teach his young mistress to behave like a proper lady. Eve simply sat, seething, as Regulus chimed in. They only stopped when Eve took her tea, dismissed Kreature, and agreed to buy herself her own trunk.

Regulus grinned triumphantly as Eve emptied her bag and added her Muggle items to her pile of school supplies and swapped her Muggle wallet for a pouch of galleons. Eve flipped him off, inciting grumbling about her Muggle habits, and called Kreature to take her to the Leaky Caldron.

Kreature refused to leave Eve's side once they entered the wizards' world. Eve could understand that. That last time she had been out of sight in the wizard world was when she had been fostered to that rather nasty so-called 'Light' couple. It was because of them that the entire world recognized the fine white scars that crisscrossed her arms and left cheek. Eve knew that her Muggle clothes and the Slytherin emblem on her bag would attract attention. Then people would notice Kreature and the scars. After a brief moment of confusion about why a child would be left alone on Diagon Alley with a house elf, they would connect it to the name Black. Then the whispering would start.

Eve headed for Madam Malkin's at as brisk a pace she could manage with Kreature clinging to her bag's strap. From there, she went to the luggage shop and ordered a custom, but basic trunk, equipped with basic locking, expansion, and feather-light charms. She would pick it up with her robes at the end of the trip.

Ollivanders was very dusty. Eve couldn't imagine why. With all the kids and their families coming in and out all day, she would have thought that they would stir up all that dust. Eve examined the narrow boxes that lined the shop with interest. In each of those boxes was a wand meant for someone. Many of them hadn't even been born yet. It fascinated her. She had once read an essay that speculated on whether wand-making involved a kind of foresight but had been unable to find any more information when she'd tried to research the subject.

"Ah, Miss Black," Eve jumped when Ollivander came out of the back of the shop carrying a wand box. "I was wondering if you would decide to come. Your family's reputation precedes you."

"Unfortunately."

"Hmm, indeed. Not the best reputation, but a great one none the less. I do believe that your father had the same sour look on his face when your grandmother brought him here. Twelve and a quarter inches I do believe—"

"I don't want to hear about it." Eve cut him off.

"Yes, yes, understandable. Do not fret, my dear. You will receive a wand fit for Evangelique, not just one for a Black." Ollivander set the wand box on the counter and pulled out a measuring tape. "Now, wand arm please."

Eve held out her left hand and Ollivander began walking around her in circles and muttering under his breath as the enchanted tape measure began taking inane measurements that Eve didn't understand. "Does this actually help you find my wand or do you just do this to unnerve and irritate your customers?"

Ollivander chuckled and put the measuring tape away. "That's the second time I've answered that question today, my dear. The other young man was a very tricky costumer. You see, Miss Black, a young witch, or wizard's wand will resonate more strongly with their magic if they are feeling some kind of emotion. Annoyance and irritation are the easiest to bring out in children. However, on occasion, I get," he took the wand from the box he'd placed on the counter and presented it to Eve, "fascination. Rowan and dragon heartstring. Twelve inches. "

An odd feeling of warmth spread from Eve's fingers as they grasped the wand's handle and blue and green sparks erupted from its tip. Pure joy filled her heart, and her entire being felt lighter. This was _her_ wand. It was meant for _her_, and only her, and now it was in her hands. It was _hers_. Suddenly, Regulus's rage when she'd called his lost wand a hunk of wood made perfect sense. She promised herself not to tease him about it so much.

"Interesting," Ollivander said. "That's the shortest shelf life one of my wands has ever had. I'd just finished it when you came in. Rowan is such a clam wood. It doesn't usually pair with a core as volatile as dragon heartstring. However, this piece of Rowan insisted. Interesting. Only customer I've matched in one try as well."

"Wait," Eve said, clutching _her_ wand to her chest. "You mean that if I'd come in an hour ago, I wouldn't have had a wand?"

"Not so, Miss Black," Ollivander explained, "but it would not have been the same. Very recently, you must have made a decision that shaped the very nature of your being. Because of this, the wand that might have been yours was no longer right for you and thus…" He reached out and ran a finger along the wand's shaft. Eve snatched it away from him, as if she thought he was going to take it back. "This wand demanded to be made and placed into your hand. Destiny can work in strange ways."

_Destiny_? Eve looked down at the wand in her hands. She didn't think anything earth shattering had happened in the past few days, other than the letter itself, and she still felt like the same person she had been last week, and last year. Other than the warmth and joy that still lingered from the wand choosing _her_, she still felt the same. Just Eve, who had never before been _chosen_ by anyone or anything. _Destiny?_ Eve wondered again about the theory of wand-makers being seers. She would have to try to find it again.

Eve wouldn't let Ollivander take the wand back, even to put it back in the box. She paid for it and then marched straight into the leathers shop next door and bought a plain leather wrist holster for it. She was still so giddy from the wand's choosing that she didn't even care when the group she nearly ran into walking out of the shop started whispering behind her.

"That's that Black girl."

"Poor thing—"

"Don't bother. She'll turn out just like the rest of them."

Flourish and Blotts was almost Eve's favorite place in the world. However, it had some rather nasty policies that made it ridiculously difficult to special order or preorder anything and would not sell anything that hadn't been approved by the Ministry. That and the owners didn't like her very much. Rebecca and Gene ought to run the place, then it really would be heaven on earth. Eve sent Kreature off with most of her book list and then headed for the Potions and Herbology section. She was quite surprised by what she found there.

There was a black-haired boy leaning against one of the shelves in the middle of the aisle with one book in his lap and three more open around him. He appeared to be very intent on comparing a recipe in the book on his lap to one in the book in front of him and then to one or both of the other two books, which both appeared to be ingredient glossaries.

"Could you hand me a copy of the first-year potions book?"

The boy was so absorbed in his reading that he darn near jumped out of his skin when Eve spoke. He scowled up at her, dark glasses framing darker eyes. "Did you bother to look for it?" He snapped.

Eve raised an eyebrow. "I've looked at it before. Didn't look worth buying though, but, unfortunately, now I need it for school and if I remember correctly it's right behind you."

The corner of his mouth twitched. He reached up behind him and pulled the book off the shelf, handing it to Eve. "I have to agree that it's lacking. This one's much better. Here, see?" He handed the book to Eve and then held up the one in his lap. "Ours just tells you what to do, not _why_ it works. This one, however, goes into much more detail. I swear, it's like wizards don't care why something works as long as it does."

"I have to agree." Eve plucked _1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi_ off the shelf and then sat down next to the boy. "Are you Muggleborn, then?"

"No, I just seem to have gotten the quirky common sense gene. My brother can't even grasp why I care." He set the book back in his lap and grabbed one of the others off the floor. "This is a great ingredient reference. Instead of just listing the ingredients and their basic properties, it goes on to list theories about why they have those properties and how they react with other things and again theories about why."

"That's fantastic! Is there another copy of that somewhere?"

"No, there's only one of each of them because they're not standard."

Eve, still excited about the find, dug a piece of parchment and her pen out of her bag. "Just give me the titles. I know a bookshop in London that can special order anything."

"That's okay," the boy sounded disappointed, "you can take these. My father won't let me buy anything that's not on my list."

"Well, then here." She jotted down the titles and then the address of Rebecca and Gene's shop and gave it to him. "Best shop ever. It's run by a Muggleborn and a squib, and can get you any book, magical or Muggle, in less than forty-eight hours. Oh!" She took the list back and added to it. "If you don't mind Muggle fiction, I highly recommend these authors. I'm Eve, by the way."

The boy's mood brightened considerably. "Marion. It's an odd name I know."

"Oh, don't worry about it. My name's Evangelique Altair." Eve grinned. "We should start a weird name club."

Marion laughed. "May this mark the formation of the weird name alliance." Eve grinned and they shook hands. Then Marion caught sight of Eve's wand. "Did you just come from Ollivanders?"

"Yup." Eve smiled brightly. "Apparently it was his shortest ever appointment."

"Lucky." Marion sighed. "My brother took five minutes. Me? Ollivander found mine under a cupboard in the backroom after we'd been through every wand in the shop. Hazel and phoenix feather."

"Rowan," Eve's heart lightened as she ran her fingers along her wand, "and dragon heartstring. He'd just finished making it when I walked into the shop."

Eve and Marion quickly leapt into a discussion about the many theories surrounding wand-making. Eve brought up the essay theorizing that wand-makers were seers and Marion was fascinated. Eve promised that she would try to find it for him since she thought she had found it in her library. The conversation spiraled off from there until they ended up delving into what little they knew of Muggle botany and comparing it to what they knew of herbology.

"Marion!" Eve and Marion's heads both jerked up from their books. A pair of blonde boys their age stood at the end of the aisle.

The lighter-haired boy scowled at them both and started off on what sounded an awful lot like a lecture. "There you are, geez. I don't understand why you wanted to come here rather than the Quidditch shop. And what are all of _those_?" He pointed to the books that Marion and Eve had been going through. "You _know_ your dad said you can't get anything that's not on our list." He caught sight of Eve and scowled, more at the Slytherin emblem on her bag than at her. "And who's your _friend_?"

Marion just glared at his brother, the darker-haired boy who looked torn between intervening and joining in, and completely ignored the existence of the boy who'd actually been talking. Eve leaned toward Marion and whispered, "Five Galleons says your pops buys your bro something 'not on the list.' Probably relating to dueling or Quidditch."

Marion almost smiled. "Not taking that bet." Louder he said, "Eve, brother creature, and brother creature's friend. Brother creature and brother creature's friend, Eve." Eve snickered, and the 'brother creature' looked mildly amused but 'brother creature's friend' didn't look too thrilled with the characterization.

"Mr. Andrews!" He called over his shoulder. "We found Marion! He's talking to some Slytherin girl about a book!" Marion paled as a rather severe looking brown-haired man came around the corner. He took one look at Eve, grabbed Marion, and hauled him off, barely giving him time to grab his school books off the floor. Eve's note fluttered to the ground. She stared at it. The happy feeling she got from getting her wand and possibly making a friend plummeted. Eve's nails dug into her palm. She really hated wizards.

Eve scooped up all the books off the floor and shoved them at Kreature to buy and then walked straight out the door. She found a deserted corner of the Alley and sat down on a crate. She was near the entrance to Knockturn Alley, but didn't care as long as it meant there was less foot traffic. It was five minutes later when she realized that the crate was talking.

Eve jumped up off the crate and stared at it. There was not one voice, but many. They spoke in low hisses. Most sounded rather dim. They complained about being cramped and hungry but there was one voice that was different from the others. It still complained, but about being lonely and how none of the others were like her. Eve wasn't sure how she decided that the voice was female. She crouched down and reached to lift the lid of the crate.

"What're you doing there girl?" A scruffy looking man shouted. Beside him stood a tall, elegant, blonde man who was the exact opposite of scruffy. Eve wondered what on earth the two of the two of them could possibly have to do with each other.

"I was just curious abo—"

"About what?" The scruffy man demanded. "It's a crate! Do you often go poking your nose into other people's things, hmm, girl?"

"If you must know, I was curious because it was talking!" Eve snapped at them. The scruffy man started sputtering and the elegant man looked at her as if she had grown scales. Ignoring them, she lifted lid. Inside there were lots and lots of small snakes. She peered at them but couldn't recognize the breed.

"They are infant American garter snakes, Lady Black." The elegant man recovered first but now Eve was staring at him in shock. She had never been addressed as 'Lady Black' before. She now assumed that he was from an old pureblood family, probably a darker one. Malfoy, she decided. He certainly had the look for it. "Mister Borgin is selling them to me as potion ingredients."

"Oh…" Eve studied the quivering mass of serpents, not sure of exactly what she was looking for. There! There was a flash of red and yellow among the brown and green scales. Without thinking Eve reached in a snatched it out of the crate. She opened her hands and found a red, black, and yellow striped snake, no longer or wider than her wand, nestled between them.

"And that it a scarlet king snake. They are much more valuable than the garters." The Lord Malfoy shut the crate before any of the garters could escape and gave Mister Borgin an odd look. "I wonder how it got in there. Perhaps a mistake was made with my order." Borgin immediately leapt into an explanation blaming his supplier that he obviously hoped would appease the Malfoy lord and was obviously doing just the opposite. Eve ignored both men in favor of the small serpent in her hands.

The little king snake was obviously thrilled to have been removed from the company of what she clearly thought to be an inferior breed. She lifted herself up to look Eve in the eye and said in an oddly high-pitched childish voice, _~Hello~_

Eve, who had gotten over the fact that she was hearing snakes talking about a minute ago, answered. _~Hello.~_

_~What's your name?~_

_~Eve. What's your name?~_

_~I'm— OH!~_ The snake ducked her head and flicked the tip of her tail over her nose. _~I don't have one yet,~_ she replied sheepishly. _~Maybe that's none of the green ones answered when I asked. I thought they were just stupid and didn't know what a name was.~_

_~Don't worry. The green ones are nowhere near as intelligent as you are,~_ Eve assured her. _~I could give you a name.~_

_~Really?~_

_~I'll call you… Medea.~_ Eve smiled, thinking about the witch who flew from the scene of her crime in a chariot pulled by snakes.

_~I like it!~_ Medea giggled, as much as a snake could giggle.

Eve noticed that Malfoy and Borgin weren't talking anymore. She looked up and found Malfoy looking at her with something between awe and confusion while Borgin was impersonating a fish. "What? Oh, I suppose she's yours, isn't she? King snakes are more valuable you said, yes? How much more so?"

Malfoy opened his mouth. For a moment, Eve thought that he was going to mimic Borgin's fish impression. Instead, he spoke. "She's yours, Lady Black. Just be careful if you bring her to Hogwarts. Snakes are not on the approved pet list."

It took all of Eve's willpower not to scowl. Malfoy was up to something. She settled on, "Thank you, Lord Malfoy." She turned and pointed to the crate, "You ought to get that lot some mice soon or they'll start eating each other." She then called Kreature and asked to be brought home before Malfoy could change his mind.

So, Eve didn't hear the pair of former Death-Eaters discuss the implications of the Black heiress being a parcelmouth.

(*)

That night, Eve dreamed of a cold, dark fortress in the middle of the sea. The sound of the waves crashing against the walls was a rat's footsteps compared to the screaming loneliness and despair that ate at her from the inside out. Her blood became shards of ice, tearing her heart and lungs to pieces and ripping away at her skin.

When she woke, she clutched her wand to her chest, gripping it so tightly her palm bled where her nails dug into it. Like she thought that someone would rip the one thing that had chosen _her _away from her.

It shouldn't have bothered her so much. She was 'that Black girl'. She was always alone. Why now should it feel like someone had ripped something out of her chest and replaced it with a chunk of ice when there had been nothing there to begin with?

Eve spent the rest of the night with Medea sleeping draped around her neck, staring at the Black family tapestry. More accurately, the charred black hole where her father's name used to be. Occasionally, her eyes would drift to places where cousins had married each other and her mood would worsen. Over the course of the night the sour feeling that had persisted since Marion's father had dragged him out of Flourish and Blotts grew. Her wand spun through her fingers. She really hated wizards.

Our world, Eve decided as dawn came, is rotting.


	3. Meetings of Chance

**AN: Changed my summery for the fourth time and I'm still not happy with it. Anyway, the scene with Marion's brother has been heavily edited to anyone who read it before.**

**Thanks for reading,**

**Ebony**

**Chapter Two: Meetings of Chance**

Eve arrived at platform nine and three-quarters nearly an hour early. She wanted to avoid as much of the crowd as possible. Her new trunk rolled along behind her as she walked to the back of the train. She wanted to find a place to sit where no one would bother her and figured that the back of the train would be mostly free of people who wanted socialize until the train left. It was too early for the people who just wanted to get a good seat, so the train was nearly empty. Anyone on board now had been dropped off early because their parents wouldn't be able to get them there later.

"Eve?"

Eve's head whipped around in shock at hearing her name. The boy from Flourish and Blotts, Marion, poked his head out of the compartment behind her. "What're you doing here so early?"

Eve gawked at him for a moment, surely duplicating Mister Borgin's fish impression. She couldn't believe he was actually talking to her. She kept gawking until a black eyebrow arched over his rectangular glasses. She grinned sheepishly. "I wanted to beat the crowd. What about you?"

"Been here for half an hour already. My dad has some meeting at the Ministry." Marion slid the compartment door the rest of the way open. "If you go much farther you'll run into goonies one and two, so, you might as well come in."

Eve gave him an incredulous look. "Didn't your father give you the 'stay away from that Black girl' lecture?"

"Of course," Marion grinned broadly, "but that doesn't mean I'm listening to him."

"Well, you're not shy at all, are you?" Eve couldn't help grinning as well as Marion helped her manhandle her trunk into the luggage rack. "Who're goonies one and two?"

"My brother and his friend." Marion sat back down and picked up the book he had been reading back up. "They were listening to the lecture and would likely have given you trouble if they saw you." Eve barely heard the explanation. She was staring at the book in his hands. It was one of the ones she had recommended to him along with Rebecca and Gene's shop, Summerland. She distinctly remembered that note falling to the ground as his father had dragged him off. He noticed her stare and grinned. "Thanks for the recommendation, by the way. I couldn't order anything because I didn't know if I'd be able to get back, but I did find good reading material."

"But… my note—"

"Oh, yeah." Marion's cheeks turned faintly pink. "I remember everything I read."

"That greatly lessens the appeal of rereading books. Speaking of…" Eve reached into her messenger bag and pulled _Hawthorn's Basic Potions Manual_ and _Hawthorn's Complete Ingredient Guide_, the books Marion had been studying at Flourish and Blotts, out, along with _Obscure Magical Theories_, which she had received from Rebecca and Gene as a going away present, and then a basic Muggle botany book. Marion's eyes lit up and his glum mood seemed to improve immediately.

They picked up where they left off in Flourish and Blotts. Students started to arrive and fill the compartments around them. Any other first-years how considering joining them were quickly discouraged by the fact that they there both sitting on the floor with at least five books spread out on the seats or floor around them at any given time, and were chatting animatedly about them. Upper-year Ravenclaws who walked by grinned, certain of two new additions their house.

Eventually, the talk became more casual. The books stayed out, but now where acting more as a people deterrent than study material. Eve pulled out her sketchbook and drawing pencils and sat back against the seat and propped her feet on the other one. Marion sat next to her, fascinated by both her drawing process and one of her fountain pens, which he was trying to figure out how worked. Luckily, the pen was one of her new ones and hadn't been used yet or he would have gotten himself covered in ink more than once.

"What are you trying to draw?" Marion asked. He tilted his head sideways as he studied the vague shapes sketched out on the page.

"You." Eve snickered at Marion's affronted look.

"That doesn't look a thing like me."

"That's because it's not done yet." Eve quickly flipped to an earlier page in the book and showed it to him. "Does this?" She asked with a cheeky grin. Marion's jaw dropped. She had drawn him as she had first seen him, leaning back against the shelf with one book propped against his knee and surrounded by many more, and glaring at her over his glasses like she was intruding upon his personal sanctuary.

"Did you really draw that?" Marion gasped. Eve nodded. "Did you start it the same as the other one?" Another nod, then Marion frowned. "Did I really look at you like that?"

Eve laughed. "Yes, you looked at me like I was some god awful waste of space that was intruding upon you."

Marion grinned sheepishly. "Hate to break it to you, but I really thought you just some lazy first-year that didn't want to look at book shelves any longer than necessary."

"I gathered that."

A moment later a whistle sounded, announcing that the train would be leaving soon. A frazzled looking girl appeared at the compartment door. She slid the door opened and opened her mouth but then the train lurched to a start. The girl lost her balance and staggered forward only to lose her footing again as the train began to accelerate. Marion stood to try and steady her but she ended up sending them both crashing to the floor. Marion's head landed in Eve's lap and the girl's trunk landed on her foot. Eve helpfully lifted her sketchpad over her head so he wouldn't land on it. Marion spat out chunks of auburn hair, "Thanks for the help, Eve."

Eve grinned down at him, "You're welcome."

"Talk about your first impressions," the girl mumbled into Marion's chest.

"Like the impression of Eve's pencil case against my back. Get off!" Marion shoved her off his chest.

She scuttled to the side, gripping her ankle, "Sorry." Marion just glared at her and started picking up his and Eve's scattered books. Eve set her sketchpad aside and gathered up her spilled pencils. The girl sat out of the way, holding her ankle and looking guilty.

"Your ankle okay?" Eve asked, ignoring Marion's grumbling. "Do you want me to find a perfect?"

"No, no. It's fine. See? Feeling better already." She stood but winced and stumbled when she tried to put weight on her foot and tried to lift her trunk.

Marion shoved her down onto the seat, "Sit before you fall again and hurt something, or _someone_, else." He grabbed the handle of the girl's trunk and tried to lift it. "Bloody hell! Haven't you ever heard of a feather-light charm?"

"Well, yeah," the girl replied as Eve helped Marion haul the trunk out of the doorway so they could close it. Neither of them wanted to try to lift it, so they left it in the middle of the floor.

"So, why didn't you _use_ one?" Marion grumbled. He dropped down on the seat next to Eve who sat across from the other girl.

"Well, I'm a Muggleborn," She explained. "Well, technically, my mom's a squib, so I don't know what you you'd call me. I'm Mandy, by the way." She held her hand out to Eve. "Mandy Addams."

Eve shook Mandy's hand. "Eve Black."

Both girls turned and looked expectantly at Marion. He scowled at them both before stiffly offering Mandy his hand. "Marion Andrews."

"Like the crazy guy that was screaming at the manager of Flourish and Blotts about some book on Tuesday?" Mandy asked as she took his hand. Marion's scowl morphed into a snarl.

"It was a freaking spell glossary!" Marion violently threw his hands into the air and slumped against the seat, burying his face in them. "Who cares if three out of two hundred and twenty-two listed spells are _supposedly_ Dark?" He lifted his head and glared at the pair of wide-eyed girls, mostly at Mandy. "Can we change the subject?"

"So..." Mandy tried. "Nice weather we're having."

Eve laughed and Marion's scowl briefly became a smirk before fading into a blank mask. "It is, quite nice, really. So, then, it wasn't bad road conditions that made you nearly miss the train and come running in here out of breath. Did you forget something?"

"Oh," Mandy blushed. "We lost May-Beth."

"Who?"

Mandy reached into the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt and retrieved a sleek black rat with a white ribbon with black edging tied around its neck. "This is May-Beth." She held May-Beth out to Eve who patted her between her ears. "My kid sister took her out this morning and she ran off and we couldn't find her."

"The rat or your sister?" Marion eyed the rat warily, like he thought it was a waste of space. Eve got the idea that Marion thought a lot of things were a waste of space.

"May-Beth, dummy." Mandy stuck her tongue out at him and he glared at her.

"Why'd you barge in here anyway?" Marion grumbled. Eve started to wonder if he had multiple personality disorder. He'd been nice enough a few moments ago but seemed to have become incapable of even being civil to Mandy. He was acting like an ass. Maybe it was because she fell on him. Eve didn't know, but it was strange.

Mandy pulled her backpack off and dug through it. "All the other Muggleborns I've met at Diagon Alley do is hound me questions because I was raised knowing about magic, and no one else seems to like the same things I do. And well…" She pulled out a book and held it shyly in front her face. It was the novel Eve had recommended to Marion and he had been reading when she had gotten on the train. It must have still been on the floor somewhere when Mandy walked by.

Eve could almost see the hamster in his head stop abruptly and then do back flips as the too fast spinning wheel kept going forward while Marion tried to readjust his first impression. Apparently, it didn't work very well because he just crossed his arms and kept scowling. Mandy tried to, and eventually succeeded in drawing a reluctant Marion into a conversation about the book. She had evidently decided that books were the key to getting Marion's good side. Eve agreed. She propped her sketchbook up against her knees and sketched while she listened while they discussed the same things that had spun through her mind when she had first read it.

Eve assumed they were half way to Hogwarts when the sweet trolley arrived. Eve looked at the cart with open distain and noticed Marion wore a similar expression. Nothing but sweets for lunch, really? Mandy on the other had had apparently never had wizard sweets before and bought one of everything. She soon decided that she didn't like them very much. The Cauldron Cake and Pumpkin Pasty were quickly handed over to May-Beth, who also rejected them. She swore that the pasty would have made her swear of pumpkin anything if not for her mom's incredible pumpkin bread. She spat out her first Bertie Bott's bean. She couldn't tell them what flavor it was only that is was _nasty_. She might have liked the Chocolate Frog but it hopped right out of the box and onto the floor where it then began to repeatedly bang itself against the compartment door until Eve opened it and let the dratted thing out.

Eve and Marion found Mandy's quest through wizard sweets highly entertaining and Mandy kept up a running commentary. "I mean, seriously! They can't even make chocolate without over-complicating it with some magic something? I want to eat my chocolate not watch it hop around the room." She took a bite of a Liquorish Wand. She looked mildly surprised and actually ate the whole thing. "That wasn't too bad. I think I'll stick to Twizzlers though. They're much better. What?"

Eve and Marion both gaped at her. "What the devil is a Twizzler?" Marion exclaimed.

"Muggle liquorish." Mandy explained. "It's really good. The best kind comes in strands that come twisted together and it's fun to pull them apart. Hey, um…" She glanced sheepishly between Eve and Marion. "Either of you have anything extra? My parents assumed that there would be an actual lunch served so…"

Marion sighed, "You can—" He suddenly slumped back in his seat, looking very glum. "My lunch is with my brother. I'll have to go get it." He stood but Eve grabbed his sleeve and tugged him back down.

He glared at her but she just grinned and declared, "Don't worry. I'll rescue you." Eve dug through her bag and pulled out a teal and tan Muggle fabric cooler that had been charmed to keep food fresh. She pulled out a pair of sandwich boxes and tossed them to Mandy and Marion. "Those are egg salad and these," she then retrieved two Tupperware bows, "are fruit salads." She set them on Mandy's trunk with a third, another sandwich, three forks, and a trio of metal water bottles filled with iced tea. Eve glanced up and found Marion and Mandy gawking at her wide-eyed. "What?"

Mandy recovered first while Marion just continued to look flabbergasted. "Why on earth did you bring so much food? I think you've taken the whole 'be prepared' motto to the extreme there, Scout."

Eve didn't get the 'scout' reference and she assumed that Marion hadn't either because he looked even more confused and a touch angry. Eve was starting to think that Marion didn't like being confused. "I had my house elf stock this cooler with snacks for the year" She explained and then, seeing Mandy's puzzled look, added, "It has expansion and ever-fresh charms on it."

"Oooh." Mandy nodded. Her rumbling stomach then won out over her curiosity and she took a bite of her sandwich. Her eyes bugged out. "This is really good! My compliments to your elf."

"This is probably the healthiest food on this train that's actually being eaten." Marion opened his sandwich box and studied it for a moment. The crust had been cut off and the sandwiches chopped into thirds. He gave Eve a quizzical look and she grinned at him. Marion shrugged and started eating the sandwich. "Much better than my other lunch option."

"What was your other option?" Eve asked before sinking her teeth into her own sandwich.

Marion shook his head. He finished his sandwich third and picked up the fruit salad bowl and held his iced tea between his knees. "I don't even think it qualifies as a sandwich. It's some Muggle brand my brother found and fell in love with. He managed to convince my father to get keep getting it for him. It's pretty much a bunch of ground meat-something on a bun. He calls it a… a 'manwich' or something like that."

Eve was certain that her face reflected the same disgust as Marion's. "Blech." Mandy said, devouring the rest of her sandwich. "I had a Muggle friend whose dad made the stuff all the time. It's called Hamburger Helper, I think." She took a swig of iced tea. "The stuff smells nasty, but then, I come from a family of vegetarians so I think most meat smells nasty."

"Hear, hear." Marion muttered, jabbing his fork into a strawberry. He looked up from the bowl and found May-Beth sitting on Mandy's trunk, staring at his food. "Hey!" He snatched his bowl off his lap and glared at the rat.

"Sorry." Mandy grabbed May-Beth by her tail and set her down on the seat next to her. "She really likes strawberries."

"Well, it's not getting any of mine."

The compartment door suddenly slammed open and Eve, Marion, and Mandy jumped. Marion's brother stood in the doorway with a wrapped package in one hand. His friend stood behind him looking at Marion with distain. "What _are_ you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm eating a fruit salad." Marion answered without looking up from his bowl. "What're _you_ doing?"

"I came to bring your lunch," The brother held out the wrapped packet.

The friend snatched it out of his hand. "I think I'll eat it, since you're obviously more interested in eating rodent food." He jerked his chin toward May-Beth, who happily nibbled on her strawberry. Eve flicked a slice of mango at him. It stuck between his eyes. He wiped it off and glared at her. "What was that for, Black?"

"For being an ass." Eve replied in the overly cheery, upbeat voice she reserved for people she didn't like.

He scowled, a much less menacing version of Marion's. "What do you think you're—" The scowl turned into a rather unmanly shriek that he would deny for the rest of his life and blotted from the compartment, dropping his sandwich in the process. Medea had chosen to wake up and uncoil herself from where she had been wrapped around Eve's wrist like a living bracelet. She lifted her head and flicked her tongue at the place where Marion's brother's friend had stood, and then back at Eve. The snake then recoiled herself and went back to sleep under her sleeve.

Mandy burst out laughing, "Ya' know your bracelet's alive, right Eve?" Eve smirked, and the noise Marion made was something between a sigh and a laugh.

"He'll go get a prefect." Marion's brother still stood in the doorway, scowling down the corridor at his friend.

"Well, Andrews," Eve tugged her sleeve down so that it completely covered Medea. "I don't see a snake. Do you see a snake?"

"Nope, but you have a very pretty snake bracelet." Mandy said. "So long as it doesn't try to eat May-Beth."

"Are you kidding? I'd be more worried about the rat eating the snake, it's the size of its tail." Marion snorted. "What's its name?" He was a lot more interested in Medea than he had been in May-Beth.

"Speaking of names, how'd you know mine?" Marion's brother said.

"Duh, moron." Eve pointed at Marion. "It's the same as his."

The corner of his mouth twitched like he was trying to deny a smile. "Riiight, well." He scooped the sandwich off the floor. "I'm going to attempt to run some damage control. Be careful will you, Marion?" He headed off leaving Eve thinking that the whole encounter was rather strange.

"Her name's Medea," Eve said. "I'd show her to you but I'd rather she was hidden when that prefect Mr. Ass is fetching shows up."

"Understa—" He was cut off by a knock on the door. It slid open revealing an annoyed looking sixth-year Ravenclaw prefect.

"Excuse me, but some hysterical first-year said that you have a snake in here." She said.

"No," Mandy said, "but we have a rat." She grabbed May-Beth and held her up to the prefect who looked mildly offended. "And Eve has a pretty bracelet." Eve slipped her sleeve up just enough to reveal the pattern on Medea's back before pulling it back.

The prefect sighed, "Sorry for the trouble." She left grumbling about hysterical first-years and airheads. Eve slid the door shut behind her.

"Why'd you do that?" Marion hissed and Mandy. "You pretty much just shoved Medea in that prefect's face."

"Hey! How come you'll call Medea by her name, but May-Beth is just 'the rat'?"

"Irrelevant. Answer the question." Marion snapped.

"Well," Mandy huffed, "say you wanted a flashlight… You know what a flashlight is right?" Marion nodded curtly and Mandy continued. "If you wanted a flashlight and I had one but, for it what ever reason, I didn't want to give it to you and I showed you this," She withdrew a small silver, cylindrical object from her backpack and showed it to Marion, "and said that I didn't have a flashlight but I had a pen, would you look twice at it if you decided to ransack my stuff for a flashlight?"

Comprehension dawned on him. "No, because you openly named it and showed it to me. If you were going to hide something I wouldn't expect you to offer it to me."

"Exactly!" Mandy twisted the end of the pen and a bright light shot out of it right into Marion's eyes. He flinched from it and Mandy immediately turned it off.

"Hidden in plain sight." Eve said before they could start arguing. "Simple, but brilliant." Marion nodded in understanding and let it drop.

The compartment fell into comfortable silence as the three finished eating and the Hogwarts Express rolled through the Scottish country side. Eve sighed as she hummed a half-remembered lullaby into the silence. She wondered how long this comradely would last.

"_Listen to the song of the Solstice Child, the night does wane and the day begins."_

**Next Chapter: **An Odd, Old Hat

**A/N: What house to you think Eve, Mandy, and Marion will be in?**


	4. An Odd, Old Hat

**AN: I am never trying to use an outline again. I hate them with the clichéd passion of a thousand suns and an exploding TARDIS. I've changed so much stuff that the thing's useless and I've had to scrap the whole dang thing anyway. Never trying that again.**

**Anyway, this is the last reposted chapter and the next chapter's probably going to take awhile. It's planned as being rather long, but we've seen how well my plans work. I'll probably break it up.**

**NOTE: **Marion's name is pronounced 'Mah-ree-on.' However 'm-a-r-i-o-n' is also an alternative spelling of 'Marian', as in 'May-ree-in.' In this and later chapters, people will mispronounce Marion's name as 'May-ree-in.' In which case it will be spelled 'Marian' when they speak it.

**Chapter Three: An Odd, Old Hat**

"_We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train: it will be taken to the school separately."_

Eve's head jerked up at the announcement. Mandy and Marion mimicked the motion. They all stared down at the mess strewn across Mandy's trunk and the empty seats. There were stacks of books and notes piled everywhere and Eve wasn't certain whose was whose any more. "Five minutes…"

"Well, let's go about this in a clam and logical manner," Marion said. "Whose books are whose?"

"Here's your botany book Eve and I think this is yours Marion." Mandy passed the books to their respective owners, who were franticly trying to sort out the rest of the books. Once the books were out of the way, there were still notes scattered across the trunk.

"Here, Eve, I think these are yours." Marion shoved a stack of parchment at her.

"No, wait. We both wrote on this."

"Eve, is this your handwriting or mine? Wait, is this backwards?"

"Oh, here." Eve gathered up all the strewn pages of notes into a neat pile and bound it with two binder clips from her bag. "We haven't got time for this. I'll take them for now, and we can sort them out at breakfast or something." The others nodded and Eve tucked the notes into her bag.

They quickly threw on their over-robes over their street clothes, figuring nobody would notice, just as the train pulled into the station. Eve threw her bag back over her shoulder. It held to many precious things for her to leave it in the hands of others.

The train slowed and stopped. Students clamored onto the platform like a herd of frightened cattle. Eve, Marion, and Mandy hung back and waited for most of the other students to disembark before heading out themselves. "Firs' years! Firs' years over 'ere!" A voice boomed over the crowd.

"Hagrid!" Eve cried and sprinted to the giant, leaving a confused Marion and Mandy trailing in her wake.

"Evie!" He scooped Eve up into his massive arms and spun her around in a circle over the heads of bewildered first-years. Eve laughed and he put her down, engulfing her in a massive hug. "I'm glad you came, Evie." He whispered at the volume of a shout. "You'll have ta' come over for tea sometime."

"I will." Eve promised. Hagrid cuffed her on the shoulder with a giant hand and went back to calling the first-years.

Eve, still giddy and grinning, rejoined Marion and Mandy. Her usual frown returned when she saw their befuddled expressions. "What?"

"You just did a personality three-sixty." Marion said as they followed Hagrid down the steep, narrow path. "You went from cynical, jaded preteen, to giddy little girl, and back again." Eve scowled at him.

Mandy laughed, "That's the Eve we know and love!"

Eve snarled and sprinted forward to join Hagrid at the front of the line, shoving irate first-years out of the way as she did so. She fumed silently at her 'friends'. They had known her all of a day what could they hope to know about her or her life? How could they know or love anything about her? They'd probably be sorted into different houses, make friends, and forget about the odd girl on the train soon enough.

A massive hand clamped over her shoulder stopped her mid-step, a step short of toppling into the lake. Eve slowly looked up from the great black lake at her feet and there it was. Hogwarts. The massive castle sat upon a mountain top like a king upon his throne. The air around it sparkled with glittering light, some of which streaked off and vanished into the starry sky.

The bustle of Hagrid and the other first years vanished and felt she was suddenly alone and a great feeling of joy seemed to lift her off her feet. She felt as if she would just rise up and float to the castle. She could finally learn magic! Really learn magic, not just read books and study theory after theory. She could brew potions and learn how and why they worked without worrying about blowing up her house. She could—

Someone shoved her, landing Eve on her butt in the lake. Her robes and bag were water proofed but her Muggle jeans and shoes weren't and were now sopping wet. She glared in the direction of the ensuing laughter.

The boy just smirked smugly over his shoulder as he boarded one of the boats. "Watch where you're going, mudblood."

So that was it, Eve thought as Medea slithered up from her wrist to her shoulder, complaining about the cold the whole way. Because she was gawking at the castle she must be Muggle-born and therefore beneath him. As much as she loved magic, Eve really hated wizards.

Hands grabbed both of her arms and pulled her to her feet. Marion and Mandy stood on either side of her, shin deep in the water themselves. "Why didn't you tell him off?" Marion asked as the three of them got into one of the last boats. "If we're ranking on blood purity, you'd probably rule the school. There's no name older than Black."

"I am proud of my name," Eve said. It was true on most days. "But I don't want to be respected because of my name. I want to be respected because I'm someone worthy of respect." Marion just nodded.

"Hey, Eve?" Mandy then began to talk very fast but what she said was interrupted by Hagrid's shout of "Everyone in? Right then — forward!" The sudden movement sent Mandy off balance and falling on top of Marion. He was about to topple onto Eve but she scooted to the other side of the boat so it wouldn't tip over and get them all wetter.

"Thanks Eve." Marion rubbed his head where it hit the side of the boat.

Eve smirked. "You're welcome."

"Uhg," Mandy groaned. "Anyone else reliving the train ride?"

"Yes." Eve and Marion replied in unison. They both turned and glared at each other. Mandy burst out laughing and soon Marion and Eve joined her, though a little less exuberantly.

"Heads down!" Hagrid shouted from the front of the first-year armada.

It knocked the three out of their hysterics, as they ducked under the curtain of ivy and into a tunnel that led under the mountain. "Hey guys?" Eve began. "I'm sorry about running off on you like that. I just—"

"Thought that we had just met you and there was no way we could know and/or love you?" Marion finished.

"Well, yeah." Eve glanced sideways at him. "That's a little creepy." Marion just smirked.

"I'm really sorry, Eve." Mandy said. "I was just thought we were friends so I was just teasing a bit."

"I'm sorry I over reacted. I guess I'm just not used to people thinking of me that way."

"Yeah, well, you're both my friends now so deal with it." She crossed her arms and tried to sit up in an impressive mannor only to have Marion grab her so she wouldn't hit her head on the ceiling.

"Fan-bloody-tastic." He grumbled. "And if we get sorted into different houses?"

"We'll still be friends!" Mandy declared. "I'm not going to let a stinking house system choose who I make friends with!"

"Easy there, Mandy." Eve said. "You're rocking the boat."

"I don't care if I rock their boats! I'll—"

"Mandy!" Marion grabbed her arm to steady her. "You devotion is admirable but you're enthusiasm is rocking _our_ boat. I don't know about you but neither Eve nor I would like another dip in the lake."

"Oh." Mandy settled back down. "Sorry."

It turned out they didn't need to worry about it. The boats emerged from the tunnel into a large open cavern, like an underground harbor. They climbed out of the boats on to a beach made of smooth stones and pebbles.

Hagrid herded them all up a pathway that led up into the shadow of the magnificent castle. Eve was almost paralyzed by the shear awe of it but Marion grabbed her arm and kept her moving forward. The herd of first-years stopped behind Hagrid at the castle's huge oak doors. He lifted his massive fist and knocked three times.

The door swung open, revealing a dark haired witch in emerald green and a pointed hat of the same color on her head. She reminded Eve of a very fancy, uptight pencil.

"Remind me not to get on her bad side." Mandy whispered.

"I'm not sure she has a good side." Marion answered.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid boomed.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take it from here."

She pulled the door wide and the first-year herd entered an entrance hall large enough to build a four bedroom Muggle house in with room to spare. Or maybe a high-rise. The ceiling was certainly high enough. They were then herded into a too small room off to the side. Eve, Marion, and Mandy pressed themselves against the wall by the door while everyone else crowded together.

**"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts.****You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.****The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.****Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points.****The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."**

"Professor!" Mandy's hand shot up into the air before Professor McGonagall could leave.

Professor McGonagall looked a bit on the annoyed side but responded to Mandy anyway. "Yes, miss?"

"That boy," Mandy pointed to the stuffy brown-haired boy that had called Eve a mudblood, "pushed Eve in the lake and she's still kind of wet, and so are we," she gestured to herself and Marion, "from helping her up. Is there a kind charm you can do dry us out? 'Cause we'd rather not sit through dinner in wet clothes."

Professor McGonagall sent Mr. Stuffy, as Eve deemed him, a stern 'I'll be watching you' look but her face softened a bit as she waved her wand over the three friends. All three of them jumped and examined their now dry clothes with great interest. "There now. You shall learn that charm from Professor Flitwick at the end of this year or early next." They thanked her profusely and she smiled. "You are quite welcome children." As McGonagall left the room she heard the two of the three students begin an enthusiastic, albeit quiet, discussion about the possible workings of the charm while the third added in simpler insights. Two for Ravenclaw she thought, and one for Gryffindor, she added as she thought of the girl who had the courage to ask for help in the crowded room and point out a bully. That makes one for Slytherin too.

"What house do you guys think you'll be in?" Mandy asked once the discussion of the drying charm wound down.

"Anywhere but Slytherin." Marion sighed. Mandy looked shocked and Eve raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I just didn't take you as being prejudiced against anybody." Mandy said. "Especially considering…" She pointed down at the Slytherin emblem on Eve's bag.

Eve rolled her eyes. "I'm guessing that is has something to do with the freaked out because you were talking to a Slythrin girl father."

"The latter." Marion replied through tight lips. "I'm guaranteed a Howler if I get up anywhere but Gryffindor. If I got put in Slytherin, he'd murder me."

"Mom says I'll be a Gryffindor for sure." Mandy said. "I'm all heart and no head."

"I'll second that." Marion muttered. Eve elbowed him in the ribs.

"And Eve knows where she's going." Mandy pointed at her bag.

Eve shrugged. "I don't really care. The bag was my uncle's. I'd wear it even if I got put in Gryffindor."

Before anymore could be said on the subject, Professor McGonagall returned. "Please form a line and follow me."

The first-year herd formed a hasty line and followed Professor McGonagall back into the great hall. Eve, Mandy, and Marion ended up at the front because they were the closest to the door and were practically shoved out of the room by the herd behind them. They followed Professor McGonagall back into the entrance hall and then through the double doors that led into the great hall.

Eve almost stopped in her tracks for the third time. Again it was Marion's push that kept her going. She wasn't shocked by the prying eyes of the students they were paraded in front of, nor the floating candles, expectant professors, or the glistening golden tableware. It was the sky, or what appeared to be the sky. Like her first sight of the castle, reading about it didn't prepare her for the real thing. Eve stared, transfixed by the twilight stars and magic that hummed across the ceiling. It was enchanting, enthralling, and— Marion had to grab the back of her robes to keep her from walking straight into the high table where the professors sat. Students around the hall laughed. Eve ignored them, turning instead to Marion. "I want my ceiling to do that."

"I don't think that's a first year level spell." Marion answered.

"Indeed." Professor McGonagall said as she placed a three-legged stool on the ground in front of them. She set upon it the grubbiest looking wizard's hat Eve had ever seen. She was quite befuddled by it. Then it started singing.

"It doesn't make sense." Marion whispered to Eve halfway through the song. "If it puts us in a house that supports traits you already possess, how are you supposed to learn the traits of the others? You can by undyingly loyal but if you don't have the courage to act when that loyalty is really needed than it's worthless."

"I've never thought about it that way." Eve admitted. Before a discussion on the pros and cons of the sorting system, Professor McGonagall started reading names off a long scroll of parchment.

"Addams, Amanda!"

Mandy squealed and jumped up and down while hanging onto Eve's arm. For a moment, Eve thought Mandy was going to drag her over to the chair with her, but she finally let go, making Eve stagger, and sprinted to the chair. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Marion winced at the ensuing racket that erupted from the Gryffindor table. Eve clapped for her friend and Marion managed a few polite claps as well, once the racket had died down a bit and he uncovered his ears.

"Andrews, Marc!"

Marion's brother made his way to the chair. Marion preemptively covered his ears before the ruckus started this time as the hat shouted:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Eve came to the conclusion that Gryffindors were very loud. And that Marion didn't like loud. There was no way he was going to end up in that house.

"Andrews, Marian!"

Marion dropped his head into his hands. "For the love of—" At the Gryffindor table, Mandy looked close to a fit of righteous fury, and Marc smacked his forehead. Marc's friend, on the other hand, seemed to think it was very funny. He was lucky he was standing too far away for Eve to smack him.

"Andrews, Marian!" Professor McGonagall repeated, casting a disapproving look down the line of whispering first years.

Marion took a steadying breath that didn't work very well and stepped forward. "It's Marion, ma'am."

"I'm sorry?"

He stood stiff as a board with his arms folded tightly across his chest. "My name. It's Marion. Marion Andrews."

Whatever the professor had expected, that obviously not it. She looked flabbergasted. Apparently, this didn't happen very often. "My apologies, Mr. Andrews. If you would?"

Marion stiffened even more as he walked up to the chair and sat. Professor McGonagall dropped the hat onto his head. He looked like he thought it was going to grow shark teeth and eat his brain.

And he looked even more worried six minutes later, while the hall came alive with whispers. Marion gripped his upper arms so tightly his knuckles had turned white. His jaw clenched, and his lips pursed into a thin line. Twenty-seven seconds later the hat shouted:

"RAVENCLAW!"

Marion winced at the shout and walked over to the cheering, though notably more subdued than the Gyffindors, Ravenclaw table.

"Black, Evangelique!"

Eve walked across the hall with her head held high, like she didn't want to wince as each of her footsteps echoed through the hall. She smoothed her robes as she sat down and folded her hands neatly in her lap. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head.

_Interesting, interesting._ The hat's voice whispered in her ear. _You have a heart that's brave and noble, it's true, but a mind that's sly and cunning, too._

"_The song's over, you can stop the cheesy rhyming."_

_Yes, yes, you are quite blunt, aren't you? But I believe that is the end of your Gryffindor traits. Let's see. You've got loyalty in spades for those who've earned it—_

"_Really?"_

_What would you do if I were to insult Hagrid right now?_

"_I'd send you to one of those Muggle factories that make recycled toilet paper."_

_See? Loyal, but your trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. No Hufflepuff isn't the house for you._

"_Quit with the cheesy rhyming, really!"_

_Add that temper to list of Gryffindor qualities, but you are only quick to show it in your mind. No, you have courage but you would be no more comfortable in Gryffindor than your friend—_

"_Friend?"_

_You're both hesitant to use that word but, yes, I would say so. Now, you are quite intelligent and you seek knowledge and understanding but not for the sake of knowledge itself and you take nothing at face value. Ah, yes, I see it now. The seed is there._

"_Seed?"_

_Of a great dream, a great ambition, my dear. It's there, just waiting to bloom. There's only one place for you, child of Alexia—_

"_What?"_

"SLYTHERIN!"

The hat was pulled off her head and Eve walked toward the clapping table on autopilot. She managed to keep her head held high until she sat down at an empty end of the Slytherin table. She propped her elbows on the on the table and her head on her hands. Bryant, Aaron was sorted into Gryffindor, giving Marion's brother a high five as he sat, and Chang, Cho sat next to a greatly uncomfortable looking Marion at the Ravenclaw table.

Eve didn't hear anything after that. She tuned out the Great Hall. She stared up at the stars reflected on the ceiling and wondered where she had heard the name 'Alexia' before while she hummed a half remembered lullaby. There was something there, itching at the corner of her memory, a hissing whisper that she couldn't yet understand.

Someone slammed their goblet down on the table next to her, sending Eve's attention back to earth and a level glare in the direction of her neighbor. "Can I help you?"

It turned out that it was Mr. Stuffy. He returned her glare and asked in a cold superior tone, "Are you really _the _Evangelique Black?"

"Who else would I be, pray tell?" Eve replied, mimicking his tone and raising an eyebrow.

"An imposter."

Eve rolled her eyes. "An imposter, really? Because Hogwarts would screw up that badly and send a letter to the wrong person and then that person would really be able to trick Hogwarts into believing they're someone they're not."

"No one has heard from Evangelique Black in six years, other than the occasional chance sighting at Diagon Alley, why would she decide to turn up now?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe she decided she wanted to get an education and decided that she wanted to try the public route first so she would get to know her peers since she is the Black heiress apparent and will one day lead one of the highest houses in Britain." Eve smirked as Mr. Stuffy fumbled over an answer and turned her attention to the feast that was now laid out across the table.

There was an abundance of meat dishes, Eve noted, and the vegetables were limited mashed potatoes and carrots that looked like they were baked in gravy. Eve looked up and found Mandy at the Gryffindor table looking absolutely horrified at the food in front of her and leaning away from Marion's brother's friend, who appeared to be trying to talk to her. Marion looked no happier at the Ravenclaw table. He alternated between covering his ears and poking at some mashed potatoes.

Someone snapped their fingers in front of Eve's face. "What?" She snapped at Mr. Stuffy. She piled some mashed potatoes and carrots onto her plate. She also snuck a few bits of meat for Medea. The snake was currently draped around her neck under her shirt, sleeping again.

"Are you listening to me?" Mr. Stuffy said in 'high-and-mighty' mode.

"Why?" Eve asked as she started forcing down the potatoes and carrots. "Did you say something interesting?"

Mr. Stuffy puffed up his chest, trying look important. "I introduced myself." He said and extended his hand toward her. "Phineas Gannon Gaius."

And Marion thought he had a weird name. Eve tried very hard not to laugh. She managed a cool even tone, "Evangelique Altair Black." She reached forward, as if to take his hand but then lifted her goblet instead. "Pumpkin juice." She wrinkled up her nose. "Is there anything to drink other than pumpkin juice?"

"Why?" The pretty blonde girl sitting across from Eve asked. "What else would there be?"

"I don't know, water maybe. Or milk, or tea, or fruit juice. Something not pumpkin juice." Eve replied, still scowling at the goblet.

"Why?" The girl asked again. She didn't strike Eve as being very bright.

"Because I don't like pumpkin juice."

"Why?"

Eve decided that now would be a good time to start ignoring her and focused on her food. The mashed potatoes were good and the carrots might have been, had they not been baked in gravy. She choked down a goblet full of that dratted pumpkin juice then shoved her plate aside, in Mr. Stuffy's direction, and pulled out _Obscure Magical Theories_. The book contained numerous essays that were less than accepted by proper society. Then the book's author would go on in a stuffy superior voice about how absurd and impossible they all were. The commentary was amusing. Plus it gave insight into just how hidebound modern wizards were.

A sharp tug on her sleeve pulled Eve out of her thoughts. She looked up and realized that the dinner dishes had all been replaced by desserts. There was more variety than there had been for dinner but Eve didn't really feel like eating anymore, especially since there still wasn't anything to drink but pumpkin juice. She turned her attention back to her book when her sleeve was yanked again, nearly toppling her off the bench.

"What?" She snapped at Mr. Stuffy for the second time.

"I've been trying to talk to you."

"And I've been ignoring you."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like you."

"Why not?" He sounded affronted at the implication that he was unlikeable in any way.

Eve couldn't believe this guy. "Maybe because you pushed me in the lake." She folded her arms on the table and turned her attention back to her book, tucking back a stay strand of hair. "Or maybe I just think you're an overall ass."

Mr. Stuffy slammed his fist on the table between them. "I'm the scion of the House of Gaius! How dare you—"

"I am the scion the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black." Eve replied plainly. She glanced from the corner of her eye through the black veil her hair formed between them when she leaned forward. "How dare you?" Mr. Stuffy's face turned an odd shade of purple.

"First-years!" A girl Eve assumed to be a perfect shouted, echoed by a boy. Eve slipped her book back into her bag and stood with the rest of the first-years. Mr. Stuffy was still rather purple. "You might want to breathe sometime soon." She advised him over her shoulder. His face went from purple to red.

Eve followed the prefects, leaving a stunned Mr. Stuffy running to catch up with them. A satisfied smirk slid across her face. Wizarding politics was just a big game that no one could win. Even if she wished she could drop off into obscurity, Eve intended to play it well.

(*)

The Slytherin girls' dorm was a rectangular room that had been divided into individual cubicles that were three sides stone and one open side along the hall that could be closed off with a dark emerald green curtain. Each cubicle had a wardrobe, desk, and a four-poster bed with dark green hangings the same color as the privacy curtain with silver trimmings.

Eve's cubicle was on the far wall, furthest from the door. It dismayed her at first, to be so far from the only escape route, but that dissipated a good deal when she found that her cubicle had a window that looked into the lake. Eve began to unpack her things and store them. The other girls had a brief 'get to know each other' conversation before going straight to bed, complaining about having to get up early to meet their head of house at half past seven. Eve didn't think that counted as early.

When Eve was finished unpacking, she hung her bag from one of her bedposts, inside the curtains, and went to bed.

That was the first night she dreamt of the Mirror Woman.

(*)

She just stood there, surrounded by an ornate silver frame, dressed in flowing emerald robes with silver trimmings. Her hair was jet black and her eyes were a pale, smoky blue. Exactly the same as Eve's.

Eve wondered for a moment if she was looking at herself. She was eye level with the woman in the mirror. But Mirror Woman's check was unmarred by the thin white scar that stretched across Eve's cheekbone.

A dark, knowing smile slid across the Mirror Woman's face.

Eve woke in a cold sweat with a scream lodged in her throat but she could not figure out what had been so frightening.

Next chapter: Prejudice:

In which Eve wanders around barefoot, Marion mutilates pancakes and dishware, Mandy gets angry, and nobody gets enough sleep.

**Thanks to my readers and reviewers,**

**-Ebony**


	5. Prejudice

**A/N:** Reviewer** RiddleReader **asked me why Eve wasn't more blood prejudiced, considering where she grew up. The simplest answer has two parts. One: Eve did live with a foster family for a time (I haven't decided exactly how long), and two: she's used to the general wizard public judging her as 'that Black girl' and making harsh judgments about her because of her family. Because of this, she gets really ticked off when people judge others based on family and blood. I hope this is a satisfactory answer.

Just FYI Marion swears quite a bit in the latter half of this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Four: Prejudice **

Eve was up and ready for the day before any of the other girls even would have thought about stirring. She took off her shoes and curled up on a wingback chairs by one of the fires with her sketchbook. She sketched out a basic outline of the train compartment onto the page. It wouldn't be a replication of any particular moment, but her impression of the overall ride. Mandy's trunk was in the middle of the floor being used as a foot rest by its owner who had a bowl of fruit salad in her lap, her fork waving in the air as she babbled about something, and May-Beth sitting on her knee munching on a strawberry. Marion sat back against the wall with both feet up on the seat, one leg bent, and the other straight. There was a book propped against his bent knee that was absorbing most of his attention but he was looking slightly over the top of it at Eve, while he wrote notes on a piece of parchment, using Mandy's trunk as a table. Eve herself sat on the bench with Marion, his leg stretched out behind her. Her sketchpad was on her lap along with a book. She was turned toward Marion, making some point and hiding her face from view, her pencil slightly raised and held across her open palm. Books, as well as the remnants of lunch, were scattered about the compartment and Mandy's backpack was spilling off the seat.

Eve sat back and looked at the rough sketch with a sad smile. It was a good day, even if neither of them spoke to her again. When her new housemates started filtering into the common room, Eve swapped her unfinished sketch for the stack of notes she, Marion, and Mandy took on the train. She tried to put them in some kind of logical order while listening in to the goings on of the common room.

Professor Snape was more than half way through with the speech/lecture he was giving the first-years before anyone noticed Eve was missing. Oddly enough, it was Gaius who discovered her absence. He glanced down the line of first-years and then around the room. When he didn't find her, he nudged the girl standing next to him. "Didn't you girls wake Black up?"

"We were going to," she whispered back, "but when we checked her bed she wasn't there."

"Is there something you'd like to share with us, Miss Duke, Mr. Gaius?" They both jumped as Professor Snape sneered at them. Some of the others snickered quietly but ceased immediately when he rounded his glare on them.

"Black's not here," Gaius said.

Professor Snape only had enough time to scrutinize the gathered first years and confirm that the Black girl was not among them before a voice shouted "Here!" and she raised her arm so it could be seen over the back of her chair. "I've been listening."

"Perhaps you would care to join us, Miss Black?"

Eve poked her head put from behind the chair. Her eyes narrowed as she saw that the entire common room had their eyes trained on her. "Fine," she clipped the parchments back together and got up. Taking a place at the end of the line of first-years, Eve crossed her arms and stared blankly at a spot on the wall behind the professor's elbow.

To say Snape was supremely unimpressed with the Black girl would have been a massive understatement. Arrogant, unmotivated, uninterested in rules or actual academic achievement, thought she was so far above them that she didn't have to pay attention. Just like her father. Well, the girl was going to learn a hard lesson when she found that he would not tolerate such from his house. He'd have to plan a particularly nasty detention for that revelation.

To say Eve was supremely unimpressed with her head of house would have been a massive understatement. She knew that look, she had gotten it more times then she cared to count. _She'll be just like her father_. Deciding she might that if she was going to be standing here anyway, she might as well do something useful, Eve pulled the notes back out and started thumbing through them again.

"Black…"

Eve didn't look up. "I'm listening."

"In that case, what did I just say?" Snape's sneer returned full force. Eve could hear the hate pouring from his voice. It put her on edge and made her want to return the sneer, or maybe throw a book at his head. Yeah, that was a grand way to start off a school year. Throw a book a teacher, guaranteed detention.

"You were giving a long winded speech about house unity and the fact that the other houses hate us."

Judging from the look on Snape's face, that was _not_ what he wanted to hear.

(*)

Eve broke away from the group of Slytherins the moment they entered the Great Hall and made a beeline for the end of the Ravenclaw table. Marion sat there, alone, looking like he was plotting the brutal and horrific murder of his pancakes. This thought was confirmed when he began violently stabbing them with his knife.

"What'd the pancakes do?" Eve asked as she dropped down across from him.

He impaled a piece of pancake on his knife and stuck it in his mouth. "They have the misfortune of being both delicious and stab-able." While Eve started filling her plate, Marion downed his entire goblet, filled it back up, and drained it a second time.

She froze and the spoonful of scrambled eggs landed on the table instead of her plate. "Tell me that's not pumpkin juice."

"It's orange. Want some?"

"Never had it before."

Marion lit up like Christmas had come early. "You _have_ to try it! It's good!" Eve soon had a goblet of orange juice shoved in her hand and Marion was nearly bouncing in his seat like he was waiting for someone to open his handmade present. The happy-excited look didn't last long after Eve spat a mouthful back into the goblet.

"Good? Good like a mouthful of acid maybe!"

"Hey! It's the greatest liquid substance to grace this earth!"

"Riiiight." Eve grabbed the milk jug and washed her mouth out with it.

Marion scrunched up his nose. "So, you'll drink cow juice, but not orange."

"Milk is good for you."

"So's orange juice."

"Yeah, maybe. Provided it doesn't dissolve your intestines."

"I would _love_ to meet the first man that said 'hey, I think I'll squeeze these things and drink whatever comes out'."

"Eve! Mar!" They both looked up and saw Mandy running up to them, waving her arms around and looking rather harried. She dropped on to the bench next to Eve and struggled to get her backpack off over her robe sleeves. "Backpacks and robes do not mix." The backpack dropped onto the floor behind her and started snatching up fruit and eggs. "Either of you find any pasta last night? Or anything green for that matter?" Marion and Eve shook their heads. "Drat. Hey, pass the milk please."

"Not you too." Marion moaned and dropped his head into his hands as Eve passed the milk jug to Mandy.

Mandy poured herself half a goblet of milk. "What's his issue?"

"He doesn't like milk."

"Eh? Why not?"

"Why not?!" Marion snapped. "Maybe because it's the foulest, most disgusting, fetid, sickening, nauseating…" he kept going on and on. Eve didn't know so many adjectives could be used in one sentence.

Mandy interrupted when he took a breath. "Er… if you're done ranting could you pass the orange juice?"

Marion let the breath out, "Oh… okay." He looked mildly appeased but it was just a moment before the look was replaced by one of pure horror. Eve's forkful of scrambled eggs froze halfway to her mouth, which was hung half open.

Mandy set aside the orange juice pitcher after she finished pouring it into the same goblet as her milk. She took a sip and looked up when Eve and Marion both gagged. "What?"

Marion shook his head. "That's… that's… sacrilege."

"That's a little extreme. I was going to go with gross," Eve said.

Mandy shrugged and took another drink. "You guys are weird."

"_We're_—? You just— just… ugh!" Marion sputtered. He poured himself another glass of orange juice and went back to stabbing his pancakes with a sour look on his face.

"Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Mandy muttered.

"_Somebody_," Marion snarled, "got _drenched_ and _knocked_ off the wrong side of the bed this morning." He glared down the table to where the rest of the Ravenclaw first-years sat. With another furious snarl, he thrust the knife back into his pancakes only it didn't stop when it hit the plate. The entire blade sank into the table. The plate split completely in two, and the table cracked all the way to Mandy's seat. His goblet imploded and orange juice exploded out the top. Marion winced as the orange liquid seeped onto the table. "Oops."

"Oops indeed!" Mandy gasped. "Gees, Mar. Just what's in that juice you're drinking?"

Eve didn't think that Mandy could feel the violence bubbling just beneath the surface of Marion's magic as he glared at her. Deciding that stopping him from lighting her on fire was a good idea, Eve shoved the broken dishware aside and poured Marion a new glass of orange juice. He snatched it up and downed half of it before his magic relaxed a bit. He got himself another plate of pancakes and covered them with butter before quietly going back to eating, with a fork this time. Eve thought it was probably a good idea to leave him alone for a bit.

Mandy apparently agreed and focused back on Eve. "Hey, I was thinking, you know, about all our notes. Couldn't we ask one of the professors to copy them for us so we don't have to sort whose's whose and then we can all get copies?"

"It's a good idea." Marion grumbled. He twirled his fork through his fingers the way Eve usually did her wand. "You have them Eve. Maybe you could ask your head of house la—"

"No!" It was Eve's turn to stab her plate with eating implements. It was nowhere near as destructive as Marion's less than little fit, but it was enough to get Mandy and Marion to freeze in place with wide eyes. "I am _not_ spending a second longer with that man than I have to."

"Oookay," Mandy set her hand on Eve's shoulder. "Let's all take some nice deep breaths and switch to a non-violence inducing topic." Eve didn't look up. Instead, she continued trying to gouge a hole in her plate with her fork. "C'mon you've known him for maybe twelve hours. It can't be tha—"

"I _know_ that look '_she'll be just like her father_'. I—Ouch!" A sharp kick in the shin was a good way to stop a tangent before it started and Marion decided that it was the best method to use.

"I'm going to agree with Mandy's suggestion of changing the subject."

"Yeah, let's—"

"Addams!" A burette Gryffindor girl with a fancy looking silver hairclip interrupted, with another girl following behind her. "_What_ do you think you're doing?" She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "Our table is over there."

"Well, my friends are over _here_." Mandy snapped. Eve hadn't thought she had been capable of sounding that mad and it looked like Marion agreed with her. They were both proven wrong.

"It's not her table either." The girl gestured rather rudely at Eve.

Eve thought that this girl was just asking for a fist to the face, but that would likely be frowned upon. "Well, my friends are over _here_." Mandy snickered and Marion half laughed.

The girl got ready to spit something else stupid but then noticed Marion's presence, and spat something even stupider. The coy smile and flirtatious shift in posture were obviously for his benefit but he just looked uncomfortable, and like she was even higher on his distain list than the sweet cart on the train. "Hey, there, cutie. I'm Mandi Crass," she offered Marion her hand. "That's 'Mandi' with an 'I' by the way."

Marion just stared at the hand as if it was the needle that just popped his personal bubble. Eve didn't think that observation was too far off the mark. It looked like it was taking all of his self control to make the same choice Eve didn't and not punch her in the face. "Is 'crass' your name or general state of being?"

The coy smile was still in place as Crass took a breath to answer but stopped and choked on her own spit when she realized exactly what he said. She did a rather impressive copy of Gaius's purple face from the night before only her mouth remained hanging open. Marion dropped his attention to the pancakes he was mutilating and refused to even look at her. Crass sputtered and spat. With an indignant shriek, she stomped back to the Gryffindor table, her silent companion chasing after her.

Mandy, theirs, laughed. "Mar, you are officially awesome."

He kept mutilating his pancakes. "I couldn't very well deal with two of you, could I?"

"Hey! Don't compare me to that… that—"

"Black!" Mandy had thrown so much energy in finding a word to describe Crass that she nearly toppled over when she was interrupted by a Slytherin Perfect. The perfect held Eve's tennis shoes up by their laces. "You left these in the common room."

"Oh." Eve looked down at her curiously shoeless feet. "Oops."

The perfect rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Black. Just keep track of them in the future." Eve took her shoes and the perfect slinked off muttering about 'airheaded first-years.' Eve just shoved them back on without undoing the laces.

"How the hell did you forget your shoes?" Marion asked.

"I took them off when I was sitting in the common room this morning and forgot to put them back on." Eve grabbed some fruit and dumped on her plate. "I got waylaid by Mr. Stuffy and Snape."

_~Something smells good.~_ Medea slid down Eve's shoulder and poked her nose out from her sleeve. Her tongue flicked at the sausages. _~Those. Those smell good.~ _Before Eve could reach for the plate, Marion grabbed it and was chopping the sausage into Medea-bite-sized pieces. He pushed the plate at Eve and Medea happily gobbled them up. She rubbed her head against his hand. _~I like this one.~_ Marion grinned and rubbed the top of her head. Eve added snakes to the list of things Marion liked. Three whole things: books, orange juice, and snakes.

Mandy's forehead ceased, and her lower lip stuck out. "How come you like Medea but not May-Beth?"

"Because Medea's not a disease carrying vermin." Marion's eyes never left Medea, who was chatting gleefully at him even though he couldn't understand her.

"May-Beth's no—"

"Black plague."

"That was the fleas, not the rats."

"As shocked as I am that you know that, I might point out that it was the rats that carried the fleas all over Europe."

"And cats, and dogs, and people, and other furmajiggers."

"That's not even a word."

"So what?"

Eve didn't think it was a good idea to let this argument continue much longer. She decided to use Marion's rant ending method and kicked him in the shin. "Ow! Hey!"

"You get as good as you give." Eve said.

"Ha ha—Owww! Mar!"

"There. Now we're all even."

"You didn't have to be such a jerk about it!"

"You didn't have to laugh at me."

"_Well_—"

"_Well_," Eve interrupted, "I don't think any of us got enough sleep last night."

Marion rolled his eyes. "I think we can exclude Miss Overslept here from that statement."

"Hey!" Mandy slammed her fist down on the table. "I had a heck of a time falling asleep and nobody bothered to tell me that my alarm clock wouldn't work here. And it wasn't in any of the muggleborn information stuff they gave us either!"

Marion froze mid-breath and Eve could see his poor hamster doing forced back flips as its wheel carried on spinning without it. "That's stupid. Why wouldn't they?"

"'cause they're stupid, obviously."

"Obviously."

"I hate to interrupt," Eve shoved her dishes aside, "since you're actually not arguing, but, we're all going to be pretty stupid if we don't get moving. Class starts in fifteen minutes."

"Crud muffins!" Mandy snatched up her backpack, rummaging frantically for her schedule.

Marion stabbed his knife into what was left of his pancakes. "Crud muffins?" He got up and shouldered his bag, grabbing another glass of orange juice for the road. "What the hell's a crud muffin? Never mind. I don't think I want to know."

Eve snickered but Mandy was too busy with her schedule to notice. "Okay. Class. Herbology. Greenhouses. Got it." Marion groaned. Mandy paused as she was yanking on her backpack. "What's your problem?"

"Nothing, nothing." He answered. "What class do have, Eve?"

"Charms. We can meet up back here again at lunch."

"Sure, sure." He grumbled something Eve didn't quite catch and stalked off toward the main doors.

Mandy ran after him. "Hey, Mar! Where're you going?"

"Outside. That's kind of where the greenhouses are."

"Oh! You've got Herbology too then?" Mandy wave back at Eve and hurried after Marion, seeming rather intent on talking his ears off. Marion looked rather intent on setting fire to the first flammable object he happened across.

Eve almost felt sorry for their classmates. Almost.

(*)

Marion didn't think he woke up on the wrong side of the bed. No, he was quite certain he woke up on the wrong side of the river Styx a long time ago and nobody bothered to try to help him build a bridge, so he kept falling back in. There were only so many times one can nearly drown in hate before it became one's natural state of being.

He had been at Hogwarts less than sixteen hours and already been called 'Marian' seven times. After the second time, it was blatantly obvious that his roommates were doing it intentionally. Marion didn't hate his name, most of the time. Only when people mispronounced it.

"_We can start a weird name club."_

Only Marion didn't think 'Evangelique Altair' was a weird name. It sounded musical, when Eve, herself, said it anyway. The moment anyone else tacked 'Black' on the end of it, it turned into some sort of dirty word. Why was it that in their world a child was instantly responsible for the sins of her father? He had been asking that questing his entire life, and still wasn't any closer to any kind of answer.

"_You know what your blood did, boy?"_

Marion tugged at his hair as if doing so would yank the thought out of his head. If he could, the shit spinning around in there would make some damn good fertilizer. He wasn't sure he wanted to know how those plants would turn out. That reminded him. He was in Herbology.

He was using Eve's fountain pen, Marion realized. He meant to give it back that morning but it had slipped his mind somewhere between drenching spells, mutilated pancakes, orange juice, and crushed tableware. When he'd discovered how the pen worked early, really _early_, that morning he'd fallen in love. He didn't have to dip it in ink anywhere near as much as a quill, which, for Marion, was a wonderful thing because he wrote _everything _down. Marion's hand copied down every word of Professor Sprout's lecture while his mind wandered off into its usual abyss. Tiny, neat script filled the pages with little room to spare. He remembered everything he _read_, not necessarily everything he _heard_. Hell, he could hardly remember what Professor Sprout was talking about _now_, let alone what she'd said at the beginning of class. Sometimes Marion thought his own mind would drive him mad… provided he wasn't already.

This class was going to be hell, Marion knew. He had nothing against plants. He happened to like plants. The thing was he _hated_ dirt. It smelled wrong, felt wrong, and once it got you, it took forever to wash off. By the time you dug it out from under your nails you had to stick your hands back in it for something or another. Like when your so-called brother's so-called friend knocked you in it, or threw it at you. It was either too gritty, or too slimy, and smelled like dead worms. Then there was dung. It was worse than dirt in almost every way imaginable, and that was a lot of ways. He had enough brain-shit to deal with without piling the regular kind on top of it. What good use could there be for the one thing that came out of a cow that was worse than milk? Another reason he really didn't want to know what a 'crud muffin' was.

Oddly enough, it was Mandy Addams who appeared to be paying the most attention to the professor. She sat in the chair next to Marion, scribbling sloppy, yet organized, notes in a Muggle notebook while the tip of her tongue protruded from the corner of her mouth. Every now and then she stopped and tapped her pencil eraser against her lip. The extreme level of focus she was attempting to employ was the exact opposite of what he expected of her. Marion tried, once again, to stop his brain and reevaluate his perception of Mandy Addams. It wasn't working very well.

"Alright, class, we will begin working with our plants now. Carefully now."

Oh joy. Dirt.

(*)

"I can't believe he did that!"

"It's not—"

"I can't believe he did that!"

"Mandy, please—"

"And your brother! He just sat there! I can't believe he did that!"

"Mandy! Please! Just—Please. Please stop shouting." Marion's words trailed of as he splashed more water onto his face.

"I just—" Mandy dropped her voice when Marion scowled at her. "can't believe he did that."

Marion just sighed. "He did. So believe it."

"Humph." If Mandy was at all uncomfortable standing in the boys' bathroom holding Marion's things while he bent over the sink trying to wash dirt from his face and hair, she didn't show it. Other boys who happened to walk in however looked quite uncomfortable.

When Marion lifted his head, Mandy was glaring at him instead of the wall like she had been. "What?"

"You're acting like it's no big deal is what!"

"It's not. He's done worse. Hand me a towel, will you?"

"He's done worse!"

"Towel, please?" Mandy dropped the towel on his head and rubbed it vigorously over his hair. "Hey!"

"Why're you acting like your used to this?" She snapped.

"Because I am!" Marion snatched the towel out of her hands and threw it at her. He growled and slumped over the sink. "Damn it! My eyes!" They burned. Marion didn't know if it was the dirt or if they had just decided to act up. He splashed water up into his eyes. It wasn't really helping.

"You want me to get the nurse or something, Mar?"

"No, I'm— Wait. Who?"

"A nurse?" Mandy pulled Marion away from the sink and turned off the water. "Uh… the lady you go to see if you're sick or hurt or something."

"Mediwitch?"

"Yeah, sure." Mandy put the towel over his head and started drying his hair again.

"Hey! I can dry my own damn hair."

"Shush." The towel dropped down to his face, carefully maneuvering around Marion's eyes. He sighed and ducked his head. "Hey, look up. Let me see."

"Mandy—"

"Marion Andrews I'm going to make sure there's not any dirt in those pretty eyes of yours whether you like it or not."

(*)

When they finally got to lunch, Marion still didn't feel clean, his eyes still hurt, and he was royally pissed off at one Mandy Addams. And maybe a bit humiliated by the rather Gryffindor shade of scarlet his face had turned earlier. He was trying, and mostly failing, to rein in his volatile magic. It crackled and burned around him like a living fire, lashing out randomly at anything around him. Marion was quite positive that the suit of armor that crashed to the ground in their wake was his fault. Mandy seemed oblivious to this. She kept grumbling insults aimed at Marc, Bryant, Crass, other random Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, Professor Sprout, and some boy at her old Muggle school.

Eve sat at alone at the far end of the Slytherin table staring up at the enchanted ceiling like it could solve all the mysteries of the universe. She didn't even notice Mandy and Marion until Marion dropped onto the seat next to her and Mandy kicked her shin from across the table. Eve returned the favor. "We're all going to end up with bruised shins by the end of the day, aren't we?"

"Probably, yeah."

Marion responded by crossing his legs on the bench. Eve laughed and threw a sheaf of parchment at him and then another at Mandy. Mandy actually squealed as she started leafing through them. Marion did the same, at a more sedate pace and without the squealing. "That was quick."

Eve rolled her eyes. "I was just in charms class you know. Professor Flitwick was quite thrilled to have a few enthusiastic students."

"He might not have been so thrilled if he knew you were giving them to me." Marion grabbed a glass of water and tried to find a good-looking sandwich. "Didn't exactly make the best impression last night." Eve raised her eyebrow and Mandy looked expectant. Marion sighed and glared down at his still empty plate. "I may have accidently, sort of, set Philip Davis's bed on fire." He looked up and found both girls staring at him. "What? That was only after he called me 'Marian' the third time! And I really didn't mean to."

"What'd you do?" Mandy asked.

Marion shrugged. "I went to bed."

"You… you… went to bed! You didn't go get a teacher or something?"

Another shrug. "Someone else did."

"But—"

"Look, I got one lecture about my temper already. I don't want another. Here," Marion dropped an entire salad bowl in front of Mandy. "Your greens."

Mandy squealed and dug in. She stopped and held out her lettuce filled fork to Marion. "You want some?"

"No, thank you. Whatever dressing is on that thing smells nasty." Marion shook his head, gripping his water glass with both hands. "I'm fine."

"You need to eat _something_, Mar."

"I said I'm—"

"Here," Eve dropped one of her egg salad sandwiches in front of him. "Eat."

"I'm—" Eve gave Marion a frosty glare. He immediately took a bite of the sandwich and chewed it slowly. Eve grinned and returned to her own meal.

"Excuse me!" Mandy called down the table. "Can somebody pass that bottle of ketchup, please?"

"Sure. Here you…go…"

"Thanks!" Mandy snatched the bottle and immediately began to dump ketchup on her salad. Eve and Marion stopped eating and gaped at her. The rest of the immediate area did as well but they weren't staring at her salad.

The third-year who'd handed Mandy the ketchup looked particularly stumped. "Uhh, you know this is the Slytherin table, right?"

"Well, yeah. It's not like there'd ever be this many Slytherins sitting anywhere else."

"So… why are you sitting here then?"

"'cause I want to. Ooo, what's that soup, Eve? It looks good."

"Creamy, cheesy, something." Eve said. "You're welcome to it. Provided you don't dump it in your salad."

"Eww." Mandy scrunched up her nose as she took the bowl. "Why would I do that?"

"Why indeed." Marion seemed to have frozen solid, staring at Mandy's forkful of salad, Italian dressing, and ketchup.

"Excuse me," someone called down the table, "_some_ of us might not want to sit near a Mudblooded Gryffindork." An eerie silence hovered over the end of the table. No one was really sure who had spoken.

Eve sat up straighter and inclined her head. "Well," she sang, "then you're quite able to sit elsewhere."

"Excuse me?" An upper-year boy down the table repeated in a much different tone.

"It's quite simple, isn't it? If you have a problem with where you're sitting, leave."

"I don't have a problem with where _I'm_ sitting. I have a problem with where _she's_ sitting."

"Well," Mandy mimicked Eve's haughty tone and didn't take her attention off her ketchup salad, "you said you didn't want to sit near me. The easiest way to fix that is to get up and sit somewhere else." Both Mandy and Eve then proceeded to ignore the rest of the table.

Marion didn't pay attention to much after the sudden existence of ketchup salad. He knew that somebody said something that annoyed both the girls but he focused exclusively on meticulously picking a part his sandwich and eating it in the smallest bites he could manage without oozing egg salad everywhere. He wished he had some orange juice. He didn't look up again until Eve tugged on his sleeve. "Sorry. What?"

"What class do you have next?" Eve handed him a bowl of sliced oranges. Marion wondered how long she'd been trying to give it to him. They were welcome anyway.

"History of Magic."

"Ooo," Mandy bounced in her seat. "I'm so looking forward to that! It sounds awesome."

"Don't get too excited," Marion grumbled. "Apparently, it's taught by the most boring professor in the school."

Mandy's eyes bugged out. "What? No!"

"Sorry." Marion got up and shouldered his bag, hoping to get situated in class early. He rubbed his eye.

Mandy practically leaped across the table and grabbed his wrist. "Don't _rub_ it!"

Eve was on her feet in the same moment. "What happened?"

"Nothing. It's fine."

"Aaron Bryant threw dirt in his face! His eyes were really bugging him."

Eve tipped her head to the side and considered both responses. She grabbed Marion's chin and pulled his head up so she could scrutinize his eyes. He managed to step back and duck his head again before she could notice how red his cheeks had gotten. "It's fine. Mandy already did that, and I washed them out anyway."

"So, why are you still rubbing your eyes?"

Marion sighed. "My eyes have issues. It's fine." Eve looked skeptical. "Really, fine." He wasn't lying at this point. They really were starting to feel better.

"Alright," Eve stepped back. "I'll believe you. For now anyway." Without a word, Eve turned and walked toward a door. "Coming?" She called over her shoulder without looking back.

"Wait! Coming where?"

"History. It's this way. Coming?"

Marion swore under his breath and sprinted after Eve. Mandy ran after them. "Hey! Wait! Either of you know where the Transfiguration room is?"

"Just follow Marc and the other redlings. You'll get there eventually."

"What if I don't wanna follow your stupid brother?"

"Tough." Marion crossed his arms and gripped his sleeves tight enough that his knuckles turned white. His magic fizzled around him. The corners of a few tapestries he passed might have started to char and fray before magically repairing themselves.

Eve slowed her pace and fell into step beside him, studying him with calculating gaze. She slipped Medea from her sleeve and, before Marion could make any attempt at protest, deposited her on his folded arms. He staggered a few steps as he juggled the small snake into a more secure place on his hands. He lifted her up to eye level. She immediately looped herself around his neck and rubbed her head against the side of his jaw. Marion's shoulders relaxed and he actually smiled a bit while Medea hissed happily about the funny little man who was teaching her Eve-Sister spells.

Mandy whistled. "Gees, Mar. Talk about your mood one-eighties."

Marion's smile faded. Just how long had Mandy Addams been calling him 'Mar'?

* * *

**A/N:** The POV's a little wonky at the end here. That's intentional.

When revising the last chapter I realized that I left you all a mega huge hint without meaning to. There's another pretty big one in this chapter, that one's more intentional though.

Thanks to my readers and reviewers,

Ebony

Next Time: A Spark of Darkness

In which Marion gets mail, gets mad, and gets detention, Mandy burns scrambled eggs, and Eve doesn't have Defence.


End file.
